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"You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer," he said. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."

But the drawdown was negotiated in the Status of Forces Agreement before the Obama administration took office.

"The reduction in U.S. forces that is under way right now is in fact important and it's largely the continuation of the policy that President Bush had set in place when he negotiated the drawdown schedule with Prime Minister Maliki at the end of 2008," Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told Fox News.

In fact, the agreement called for having U.S. troops out of Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. combat troops out by the end of 2011.

"The timetable for withdrawing those troops had been worked on for a long time, way preceding this administration coming into power, and that timetable really centered on success in Iraq," said Col. Bill Cowan, a Fox News contributor. "That success starting really after the surge that was implemented by the previous administration."

At the White House, the day after the vice president's remarks, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked how the administration could take credit for Iraq.

"Well, putting what was broken back together and getting our troops home, which we intend to do in August of this year," he said, adding that Obama helped provide critical "political pressure" on Iraq policy before taking office.

Experts, noting a peaceful transfer of power is a key step for a young democracy, suggest another major test for Iraq is coming up March 7, when provincial elections are scheduled to be held.

Mike Emanuel currently serves as chief congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined FNC in 1997 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent.